South Africa’s Electoral Court has paved the way for former President Jacob Zuma to run as a lawmaker in the upcoming parliamentary elections after overruling a previous court decision that barred him from standing for elections.
The ruling will allow Zuma to run for office as a lawmaker on the uMkhonto weSizwe Party ticket after he left the African National Congress (ANC) he once led.
His former party had failed in its bid to have Zuma’s party deregistered last month.
The former president had been blocked from contesting for office because of his existing criminal conviction.
The country’s constitution disallows anyone who has been convicted with a sentence of more than 12 months in prison without an option of a fine to stand for elections as lawmakers.
He was convicted and sentenced to 15 months imprisonment in 2021 for contempt of a court order after refusing to appear before a judicial commission investigating corruption allegations in government and state-owned companies during his time in office.
However, in an order on Tuesday, the court decided that the former president’s appeal was successful and the case against him dismissed.
